The Time Turner
by 88419
Summary: When we left Gringotts, Lucrezia almost felt a sense of panic fill her.  She'd surely be caught by the Ministry for the illegal use of tampering with time but she didn't care. It didn't matter. She never cared where she ended up or in what time period.
1. Chapter 1

All characters with the exception of Lucrezia belong to J. K. Rowling.

"All right," Mother said brusquely, "here's the key to the family vault. Take as much as you need for school and some floo powder so you can get to platform nine and three quarters. Sorry we can't accompany you, darling, but you do know how very important Father is overseas."

"Yes, Mother,"

"Off you go, then." She tapped a few bricks and they immediately spread apart to reveal Diagon Alley. It was a sight that Lucrezia never seemed to fully notice. It was 1995 and she was coming into her sixth year at Hogwarts. She had been ignored all the years there. It was perhaps only Professor Snape, her head of house, who even knew her. She always was a little odd, a little uncontrollable. Never around the other students, Professor Dumbledore always made sure to keep her, her temper, and her unexplainable spells away from other students.

Yes, she was rather curious. Even mad according to many portraits in the aged headmaster's office. But that didn't matter now. She had the key to the family vault for the first time in her life. All the gold and antiques and family heirlooms that had been placed there throughout her family history were at her disposal. And yet… there was only one thing in there that would ever interest her: a time turner.

Her mouth almost turned into a small grin as she walked to Gringotts with her wand. Thirteen inch and the first ever to be made from a feather of Ollivander's peacock and the wood of the Womping Willow itself. Maybe that's the reason the aggravated tree never hurt her when she rarely managed to sneak out of the dungeons and onto the grounds. And Ollivander told her whilst she was buying her six galleon wand that normally he'd never let this one leave him as it was made of all new materials and dipped in none other than Basilisk venom.

Once she finally arrived into Gringotts, an elderly goblin sneered down at her as if he believed her too incompetent to even be entrusted with the key. Lucrezia demanded to be taken to the vault and was led by a slightly younger looking goblin wearing a child's waistcoat and a tie that was obviously tailored for him. She wondered for a brief moment whether or not goblins had vaults in Gringotts. She almost asked but she knew what her mother and father would do if she made any effort to speak to another species like that even remotely cordially.

"Here we are." The goblin growled at her. He opened the door and, unlike the bricks shifting and shaping themselves into an arch, the glittering gold and jewels always commanded her attention. With all this wealth, surely her parents could afford to get her some new robes and books. But obviously not. She walked into the large vault and grabbed a handful of galleons and, whilst the goblin was turned away, the time turner.

"You can take me up now, goblin." Lucrezia said in a tight voice that was almost her mother's. She felt ashamed for talking to him like that but was sure it would relay to her parents if she did not. She climbed into the cart and closed her eyes the whole ride back to the surface.

When we left Gringotts, Lucrezia almost felt a sense of panic fill her. She'd surely be caught by the Ministry for the illegal use of tampering with time but she didn't care. It didn't matter. She never cared where she ended up or what time period it was; she just knew she had to get out and away from her parents. She walked quickly to Knockturn Alley and turned up her ragged and holed up cloak. Once away from any prying eyes, Lucrezia took out the time turner and turned the dials an indefinite number of times, wanting to make sure she'd be farther and farther away from this personal Hell that her parents forced her into. After hearing a quiet click, the time turner would not budge anymore. The world around her melted away and was soon rebuilt by curious and hideous folks passing by her, staring. Walking away as soon as she could, leaving Hell and Knocturn Alley behind her, she went into a nearby store for a small handful of floo powder and a fireplace.

"'Ello, lovely. What might you be doing here?" A short and creepy stock attendant asked her.

"I just would like to use your fireplace. I require to be at platform nine and three quarters extremely soon. So may I?"

The attendant nodded curtly and watched Lucrezia step into the fireplace.

"Platform nine and three quarters!" She said harshly and was immediately engulfed in flames. When she opened her eyes again, there were witches and wizards all around her scurrying around with trunks and owls and various other things that belonged to them. Lucrezia suddenly felt extremely out of place at the fact that she had nothing with her but a bag filled with books and gold and a few spare sets of moth bitten robes. She had more than they thought she did in that small pocket of hers, well hidden in her robes. She ignored all the glances and scrutiny at her and stepped onto the scarlet Hogwarts Express. She was only met with more glances at her hooded appearance and her lack of luggage. Eager to escape the stares she opened the first compartment she could find.

Luckily, it only had one tall skinny wizard with long shoulder length dark hair in it. He was reading and scribbling into a copy of Advanced Potion Making.

"D' you mind?" She asked. He didn't even look up at her but he shook his head slightly. She sat across him and just stared.

"I'm Lucrezia," She said after awhile, eager to break such an awkward silence. "Slytherin. I… uhm… I had to transfer. I've been homeschooled." The moment she said Slytherin, the wizard looked up and put his book away. For a moment, Lucrezia thought he was about to get up and leave the compartment but he simply looked at her. She swore he smiled a little.

"What's with the cloak?" Lucrezia blushed. Not at the fact she was still wearing the cloak, but at he was smirking, not smiling, at her. She took off her hood and folded the cloak into her pocket silently.

"Undetectable extension charm?" He asked.

"Yes. I don't have a trunk."

"Couldn't afford one?" For a moment, she was completely taken aback. She came from both one of the most wealthy wizarding families of the century and one of the most prominent figures in the Muggle world. Not that she knew what figure her father was, of course. Quickly, she looked down at her tattered robes and ruined shoes. Her clothes did look poor but did she really give off that aura of being unfortunate? She had the looks of aristocracy: the black hair that waved and curled in just the perfect places, the extremely pale skin, the oval face, and the large eyes. She'd always been told she was pretty so she'd always assumed it was true, but now she wasn't so sure.

"No we couldn't." She said ashamed. No one would ever believe if she said she was rich anyways.

"Neither could I." He said after what seemed like hours. Lucrezia looked up at him quickly.

"You never told me your name. Or what you were scribbling in your potions book." She grinned that crooked smirk that she knew her mother detested of her.

"Severus. Severus Snape. And I don't recall you ever asking me what I was writing in that book." Shock swept right over Lucrezia at the thought that her teacher and Head of House was sitting right across from her. Forbidden thoughts ran away with her as she began to notice that he looked rather handsome to her at the age of sixteen. No. It could never be like that.

"I," she swallowed loudly and cleared her mind of any thought of him seeming handsome to her. He was eighteen years older than her, even if it didn't seem that way. "I believe I just did, Severus."

He opened his mouth to answer but someone slid the door to the compartment open before he could get it out.

"And yet another year has gone by and good Snivellus has not washed his hair. Maybe we should _Levicorpus_ him into a pool of shampoo and water. What do you say Padfoot?"

"I don't think so, Prongs. Maybe he'll do it himself in yet another futile effort to get Lily back. But who do we have here with him?"

"Lucrezia," Severus answered for her through clenched teeth. Obviously the mention of that Lily girl upset him. "Now leave."

"No I think we'll stay, Snivelly." He turned to Lucrezia and put his arm on the seat around him. "So why it is I've never seen you before? I believed I would have noticed you before if I had."

"Transferred," She said curtly. "Now if you please will you and your friends please leave?" Padfoot merely grinned and pulled her closer to him. "I'm warning you. You're going to want to leave."

"And why is that?" Another boy stepped up to her wearing a prefect badge and an annoyed look on his face at her.

"Look," Lucrezia said angry. "I don't care whether you're a prefect or whether they're the sons of Merlin himself. So far all of you but him," she pointed at a trembling rat-like man that was glancing back and forth between everyone rapidly. Clearly nervous. "Have disgusted me. You with your, 'I'm a prefect so I'm so powerful and amazing.' attitude. Prongs here with him just scurrying in to start a fight and just be watched by his prefect best friend who wouldn't ever dream of punishing him. And _you,_" She angrily turned to Padfoot. "Why must be so forward with a girl who clearly has absolutely no interest in you whatsoever. Now leave."

"No." Prongs said.

"And ten points from… what house are you?"

Lucrezia grabbed her wand and shouted her own incantation.

"_Gatherum Dissapre!" _The three students were shoved together as if a lasso was tossed around them and were tossed out of the compartment. "And I'm in Gryffindor!" She shouted out the door. With a small wave of her hand, Lucrezia closed the door without an incantation or even a wand.

"Where did you learn that spell?" Snape asked after a while.

"I made it up. I've been inventing spells for years. Most are much more dangerous than that, of course. Dark magic is easier to invent."

"I know. I have many spells of my own invention. And I thought you said you're in Slytherin?"

"I am. But they didn't know that." Lucrezia grinned again and this time, Snape returned it. Yes, he was very handsome to her.


	2. Chapter 2

All characters belong to J. K. Rowling with the expception of Lucrezia.

I was very pleased with the amount of people who favorited and/or decided to watch this story. Thank you very very much. I have the first few chapters of this story already written and I will be releasing them gradually based on audiance reception. Thank you very much.

Additional note, the beginning of this chapter originally had Severus helping her with the potion but I changed it last minute. If anything doesn't flow quite right, please feel free to tell me in a review or a private message and it will be greatly appreciated. And remember, reviews and favorites and watches earn faster updates. Almost like magic. ;D

"Bloody Hell!" Lucrezia cursed. No juice was coming out of her sopophorous bean.

"Need some help?" A silky voice asked behind her. She jumped a little and her heart sped up as blood ran up Lucrezia's cheeks. She had been at Hogwarts for a few weeks and had learned much about Sirius Black through rumors and stories. He was friends with James Potter, also known as Prongs. Their friends were the prefect, Remus Lupin, and the shaking boy, Peter Pettigrew.

James Potter was completely and utterly unlovable. He hated Severus just because he was there. Lucrezia remembered overhearing how James was very pleased that he had almost managed to take Lily Evans away from Severus Snape. She learned that they had been wonderful friends but James had been jealous and wanted the pretty Lily for himself.

Tearing herself away from her thoughts, Lucrezia started to pay more attention to the voices near her.

"Oi! Padfoot! What are you doing over there!" James Potter. Prongs. He smirked at Sirius who was trying to help Lucrezia with her potion. She normally worked with Snape but he was absent today, leaving her alone.

"Ignore him. I just want to help. Honestly."

Lucrezia did as she was told and couldn't help the goosebumps that rose all over her as Sirius grabbed her hands and helped her get the correct ingredients into the small cauldron. She wished he would let go of her so she could pull the sleeves of her robes up but he noticed them anyways.

"Cold?" he smirked at her. She didn't answer. After a moment, he finally let go of her. "Alright. That should do it so now all you have to do is stir," As Lucrezia started to thank him, he interrupted. "It's Snape's work. Not mine. I just remember seeing this scribbled in his potions book once when James was messing with him. So thank him, not me. See you around."

Class ended and Lucrezia got all of her stuff up and walked out alone. She had a free period and wanted to spend it outside. On her way to the courtyard, she ran into Severus.

"How was potions?" he asked, frowning.

"Difficult without you. But Black helped me."

"_Black?_" Severus was completely taken aback at the fact that Sirius had helped her instead of badgered her for sex for once.

"Yeah. I couldn't get the juice out of my bean. He remembered something in your potions book that you wrote. He saw it once when James was messing with you, he said. I mean, I still would have rather you help me but at least he could, you know? Potions isn't my strong suit," she laughed. "No wonder Slughorn's never paid much attention to me."

"Actually, he wanted me to ask you about joining the Slug Club." Snape said.

"The what?" she asked.

"Just a club of his favorite students. Somehow he learned how talented you were at other types of magic, with or without a wand."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Its not much of anything; you just have dinner with him and go to parties and such every once in a while. I'm in it."

"It sounds alright. It couldn't hurt anything, could it?"

Just as Snape was about to answer, they were confronted by the Marauders.

"So, Snivelly, where were you today? Your darling friend here was practically begging Padfoot for help." Potter was being himself again. Snape looked angry and Sirius just looked like he didn't want to be there. Lucrezia didn't want to be either.

"Severus, I'm going to go. I have papers to write." she said quietly.

"Go ahead." he replied.

Lucrezia ducked into the courtyard, behind a pillar looking on in fascination. Surely they wouldn't do anything too bad with such a large audience? She looked at the five boys. Snape, with his sheets of black hair and unfeeling attitude. Lupin, with his clever reasoning blinded by acts of ignorance of his friends. James, with his pompous, prat-like tendencies. Peter, looking like a lackey among his three more popular friends. And Sirius, being handsome and kind, yet almost a slave to James' hate. He looked back at her.

"Uh, Prongs, I'll meet you somewhere later. I've got something to take care of."

"Oh Merlin's beard," she swore. Lucrezia dropped her things on purpose to use as a distraction.

"Need some more help?" said a kind voice above her. She was at knee level with him looking at his shoes, polished and shined. No doubt by a house elf. Lucrezia thought of her tattered, ill fitted robes that trailed the floor slightly because of how long they were.

"That's fine, thank you." Lucrezia said curtly. But he was already leaning down to help her.

"Here," he handed her the quills and books she dropped. "Can we talk? Please?"

"Sirius," Lucrezia sighed. He grabbed her hand.

"Please." She couldn't let him ask again so she just nodded.

They stood up together and he kept holding her hand and started walking her back toward the castle. She suddenly remembered James and Severus.

"Wait, no. Not now. I need to take care of something, if you don't mind." The look on his face was confused. "I have to help my friend." She pried her hand from his, dropped her stuff again and ran toward where James and Severus still were.

"_Levicorpus!" _She yelled at James. He was hoisted into the air by his ankle, but that wasn't enough for her. "_Serpensortia!_" She yelled again. She felt a sense of joy every time she used that spell. Every time she saw that large snake blast out of the tip of her wand. She always thought the basilisk venom in her wand is what made that curse so powerful, and so easy.

"_Expelliarmus!_" Her trusted wand was blasted straight out of her hand by Remus Lupin. Seconds later, Sirius himself shot fire from his wand at the snake.

"_Oppugno!_" James yelled. Seven birds shot straight at Severus and he fell to the ground. A moment later he started walking away. Lucrezia grabbed her wand and pulled up her tattered robes a little to run after him.

"Severus, wait!" She told him.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"It's more of what you want." Lucrezia smirked. He didn't answer her so she continued. "Wanna get them back?" He just nodded and smiled a little and then started walking away.

"Thank you. By the way." he said without looking back at her.

"No problem. You go relax in the common room. I have something to take care of. I'll be back with a gift for you."

She walked back to where she got her stuff and, sure enough, there was Sirius. He looked angry and Lucrezia just smiled at him and bent down to grab her things again. After a moment, she looked up at him. "Aren't you going to help me?" She smirked.

"Lucrezia."

"Yes?" she asked.

"Can we go and talk now?" Sirius got on his knees and helped her get her stuff back together. Lucrezia nodded and grabbed his hand.

"And where will we be going?" She asked as he led her back toward the castle yet again.

"Floor seven. The Room of Requirement."

"Where?" Lucrezia asked, puzzled.

"Just come on." He took off running, still holding onto her hand.

"Wait!" Sirius turned around to face her and had an almost scared look on his face; a look that almost made it seem like he was afraid she would leave him again. "My robes. Just hold on a second." Lucrezia let go of his hands and dropped all of her stuff on the floor beside them. She cast a charm to make them invisible for the time being, grabbed most of her holey robes in one hand and united the other back with Sirius' waiting one. He smiled and took off running with her again.

After several flights of stairs, Sirius put his hands over Lucrezia's eyes. She smiled.

"What is it you require, Miss Reynolds?"

"A place to talk to you, of course." She smiled as she said it.

"And who am I?" Sirius asked.

"You, my fellow Hogwarts student, are Sirius. Sirius Black," she made a dramatic pause. "Mr. Black." She finally stated.

"And you require a place to talk to me?"

"Yes."

He uncovered her eyes. In front of her was a large door being carved into the wall like a scar.

"This," Sirius said. "is the Room of Requirement."

The room was large and empty. The only objects there were a table and two chairs directly across from each other. Lucrezia sighed. This was for Severus. This wasn't a date or anything. It was only to get information about Potter. Information to help Severus get back at James.

"So," Sirius said awkwardly. "How are you and Sniv- er I mean _Sev_erus."

"The same. Same as always. Still upset about Lily, too." Lucrezia found herself frowning as she said this. What did it matter if Snape was still caught up in Lily? He was still like a teacher to her.

"That's upsetting. I wish there was something I could do. You probably don't believe this but I really am sorry about how James is all the time. He just…" He paused as if he wasn't sure if he should be telling Lucrezia about any of this.

"Just what, Sirius? Just a prat? Just the guy who hates Severus and I simply because we exist? And what are you? Hm? Just the guy who always tells James of our presence? Just the guy who disarmed me and then actually expected me to talk cordially to you afterwards? What do you want from me, Sirius?"

"I want to know what you want from Snape." Lucrezia looked at Sirius blankly. "I can tell from the way you look at him. You love him and he loves Lily and you know it. And James doesn't even want Lily, even. He just wants something to take away from Snape."

"What?" There were tears in her eyes. Somehow, she began to hate James Potter even more.

"James just wants to take something away from Severus. You didn't know? Lily is just a trophy to him, something to ruin Snape's life even more."

"Sirius," Lucrezia said after a long silence. "Thank you. I need to get over Severus. I need to understand that it's never going to happen between us." She could have sworn she saw a happy glint inside of Sirius' eyes. Why happy? Was it because she was finally giving up on Snape? Was she?

"Yes." she said aloud. She was.

"I think that you should walk me back to my dorm." The happy glint faded from his eyes; he didn't want her to leave just yet.

"I don't know where it is." He admitted. Shouldn't he know from all the times he'd been staring at the Marauder's Map? Shouldn't he know where the Slytherin common room was after all the moments he'd spent looking at her labeled dot on it?

"Then," She stood up and grabbed his hand, smiling. "I guess I'll be walking you to my dorm and then you can walk yourself back to yours."

"That sounds alright."

The whole walk from the seventh floor to the dungeons was long but happy. They stopped by to grab Lucrezia's still invisible things and they talked about everything from her wand to his parents and family and what it was like to have run away and move in with James in the past recent months.

"I think this is where you leave me." Lucrezia suddenly said.

"The dungeons?" Sirius asked. Lucrezia laughed.

"Are you really surprised?" She smiled and went to walk away but he grabbed her wrist. She looked at him a little happy, a little scared, but completely surprised.

"I have something for you," he said after a moment. He went through the pockets of his fine, expensive robes and pulled out a large piece of parchment. "It's a map. It'll show all of Hogwarts, every corner. It'll show everything and everyone and where they are. All the time. I thought that if you ever wanted to meet up with me anytime that you could simply… walk off the map? Into the Room of Requirement?" She didn't say anything. "I don't know. I just thought you may be interested. Sorry to waste your time. I had a nice night. Bye I guess."

"No. Don't leave. I'm just a little surprised. I would love to see you again. You're a good person and I like being with you." She grabbed the map. "Thank you."

Sirius looked as though he was about kiss her goodnight so when he leaned in, she turned her head away. Lucrezia wasn't ready for that just yet. But it didn't matter; he wasn't going to anyways.

"I don't believe you're poor. I can tell from your walk that you're wealthy. And that you're hiding something." He kissed her cheek and walked back up the stairs leaving her alone near the opening to the Slytherin common room. She just looked back at him with a dumbstruck look on her face and slowly walked back into the common room.

"How'd it go?" Severus said excitedly. Lucrezia hesitated.

"Severus," she sighed. "James doesn't want Lily. At all. He just wants something to take away from you." Snape's expression changed for just a fraction of a moment but he quickly recovered himself and turned to walk out of the common room.

"Where are you going?" she yelled after him. He didn't stop or slow down. "Damn, it, Severus!" She walked out of the dungeons after him. "You don't even know where he is!"

"Do you?" He finally stopped and looked at her.

She hesitated again, thinking of the map Sirius had given her. She shook her head. "No. I don't. I'm sorry."

"He can just have her. She doesn't want anything to do with me anymore."

He walked back to the common room and was followed by a silent Lucrezia.

"Hey," Snape said while they were about to go into their separate dorms. "Hold out your hand. Please. I want to give you something." She held out her hand. "_Serpensortia,_" he said softly. But this time, the curse was different. A small snake shot out of his wand and curled around the index and middle fingers on her right hand. It settled there and turned to silver stone and scales right before her eyes. The eyes, however, remained the same: cold and uncaring.

"To remember me," Severus said after a moment. "Goodnight, Lucrezia."

She did not answer. She just looked at him and watched as he glided to the boys' dorm. Every day, he seemed to grow up a little more. Less like a spider and more like a bat.


	3. Chapter 3

Once again, all characters belong to J. K. Rowling except Lucrezia.

On a small side note, I am interested in looking for betas. If anyone should want to be one, please private message me. Thank you.

In the library, Lucrezia had snuck the map Sirius had given her inside her copy of _Advanced Potion Making_. She was looking at everyone on the map. Lily was in the library near her, a few shelves behind her. James was off with Lupin and Pettigrew. Sirius seemed to be pacing in the Gryffindor common room. Severus was in the Slytherin common room probably studying or resting or just sitting. It was amazing how much this map did and that Sirius and his friends were clever enough to make it greatly impressed Lucrezia. Suddenly Sirius' dot on the map was leaving the Gryffindor common room and seemed to be heading up the castle, floor by floor. She knew where he was going and packed up her things.

"Oi, if only Padfoot were here to see what we found," James said while Lucrezia was on her way to see him.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" Lucrezia waved her wand at him and did not stop walking. "I don't have time for your rubbish, Potter."

She walked away a little faster and eventually reached where the door to the Room of Requirement was supposed to be. She closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could of Sirius and how much she wanted to see him. Upon opening her eyes, there was no door. There was Sirius. He walked up to her and gave her a long hug and stroked her back and buried his face in her curls. Once he pulled away, he only had one thing to tell her.

"Hi." He said weakly.

"That's it?" Lucrezia laughed. "Hi?" she playfully hit him. "We haven't seen each other in days and all you can say is hi?" Sirius slung his arm around her shoulders.

"You've got to think more than just wanting to see me. Be a bit more specific."

"Well…." she paused. "I want to see you. And I want to talk to you and do some magic and laugh and make jokes with you. I want to be with you in there because that's the only place I can be with you. And I have a favor to ask of you but I can't ask it unless we're alone. Is that specific enough?" Lucrezia looked at him and smiled. He gestured at the door now appearing on the wall.

"After you." he said.

She walked in and looked around. She had only just noticed his arm still around her and kindly shook it off. "About the favor…" she said.

"Ah, yes. What was that?" Sirius sat down and looked up at her.

"I need some hair." Lucrezia said sheepishly.

"Well," Sirius started. "I've had plenty of girls ask for favors but nothing like that. Might I ask why?"

"I need to get into the Gryffindor common room. As you. I think I can pull off your personality. Please, Padfoot?"

"What do I get in return?" he asked slyly.

"Anything." Sirius nodded and plucked a long black hair from his head.

"Will this do?" he asked.

"That'll be lovely." Lucrezia replied and sat next to him, holding his hand. They talked for a while and she eventually found herself lying down in his arms on the floor in the room. But was nice but she couldn't pay much attention to it. All she could think about was her needing the polyjuice potion. A faint bubbling suddenly started happened on the other side of the room.

"Hold on." Lucrezia said suddenly. She stood up and Sirius sat up and watched her pick up her robes and walk to the other side of the room. This was the first time he noticed her feet.

"What is it?" he called after her, still looking at the feet until they were once again covered by her robes.

"It's… polyjuice potion. Just what I needed."

"You mean, just what you required?" Sirius smirked.

"Can I have another hair?" She almost felt ashamed for asking.

"Can I have another anything?" She admired how he was so straightforward and unafraid. He knew what he wanted and he would ask her, no matter what the answer was.

"It depends. What is it?"

He smiled again. "Can't it be anything?"

"Sirius."

"I want you to go with me to Slughorn's party." Lucrezia was completely taken aback.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, James doesn't even know we're friends. The only person who does is Severus. I don't think we should just blurt it out by going to a party as a date. I really want to and I am sorry. It just isn't a good idea."

"Yeah. You're right. What was I thinking?" Sirius looked upset. He must have known that it wouldn't work but he had to ask anyways, just in case.

He looked down and plucked a hair for her.

"Now go. The password is whatever flavor of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans is your least favorite. I'm sure you know from the map where the common room is."

"Wait." Lucrezia said suddenly. She took a small clump of her waves and curls and poured Sirius a glass and put her hair in. "You can't stay in here naked. And I'm sure you'd love to see the Slytherin girls' dorm."

"Actually," he began. "There's only one girl I would love to see indecent, thank you very much."

"And who might that be?"

"Doesn't matter. But she isn't a Slytherin, that's for sure. Not anymore. Not to me." He mumbled the last parts so she couldn't hear him.

"Well drink up. I'll do the same and we'll switch clothes. You know where the common room is but the password is parceltongue."

They both looked at each other one last time and drank the disgusting bubbly potion.

Lucrezia felt as though she was turning inside out. Exploding and boiling into a completely new person. She opened her eyes and looked down at her hands. They were clean and strong. She felt her hair. It was shorter and neat. Her clothes were tight and for once, her robe was the right length.

Sirius felt himself, too. His hair was long black coils framing his face and spiraling down his back. His robe was brushing the floor gently, rather than dragging. His hands were smaller, his fingers longer and skinnier.

"Alright, we need to switch clothes." Lucrezia finally said after both their skin had stopped bubbling.

"You're just trying to see me naked." Sirius smirked.

"I _am_ you. If I look at you, I'll see me naked which, I assure you, is not that great and not a surprise to me. You look at me and you'll see you naked. Which I hope isn't a surprise to you." Sirius glared at her and they switched clothes. Sirius wanted to but he couldn't bring himself to look down at the naked body he was now in. He just couldn't set himself up as some perverted pig.

"Alright. Thank you, Sirius. I need to hurry and go off to the common room." She almost left when she remembered the ring that Severus had made for her. "Wait," she took it off hesitantly. "Take this. I forgot it was on. If you're not wearing this, you won't pass for me. I always wear it." Lucrezia handed it to Sirius.

"It feels alive." he said.

"It is. It was made from a _Serpensortia_ curse. Severus made it for me."

"And you wear it?" He couldn't believe it. He was jealous. She was always wearing a ring that he made for her. There was no reminder on her at all of him. He had given Lucrezia nothing but a map. Severus gave her jewelry that she never took off before that moment. Even then, when she took it off, she didn't seem to want to do so. He had to shake the thought. He would not be jealous of Snivellus.

The two walked out of the Room of Requirement and went to the common rooms; Lucrezia to Gryffindor, Sirius to Slytherin. Once she finally got to the portrait of a fat lady and got up enough nerve to finally enter, the common room, Lucrezia came to a small problem.

"Password?"  
>"Earwax." she said simply.<p>

"Incorrect." What was going on? Sirius said the password was her least favorite flavor of Bertie Bott's every flavor beans. Both of them hated the earwax ones. Unless….

"Password? The Fat Lady asked again.

"Whatever flavor of Bertie Bott's every flavor beans is your least favorite." The door swung open and the first thing Lucrezia noticed was just how completely red everything was.

"Hey, Padfoot, we were all wondering where you were. Found you a date for Slughorn's party." James smirked at her.

"Who with? Is she hot?" Lucrezia so desperately wanted to just tell James that Sirius had already asked someone but because James and everyone else were such insolent loathsome people, they could never go together. They could never really be together.

"Yeah I think so. Patricia Goyle sound good to you?" No. No she did not. Lucrezia hated Patricia and it wasn't just because of how gorgeous she was. She always had to take things away from other people just to make herself look nicer. She didn't want Sirius anywhere near her. She'd wear a dress that was tight, short, and showed way too much anyways. Patricia would love to be on Sirius' arm even though he was a Gryffindor. She'd go after anyone. The only boy to ever reject her was Severus.

"Not really. I'm not interested in Slytherins; too much family over there anyways." Lucrezia thought this answer would suffice. It was true, at least

"Oh well. We'll keep looking." Remus said. He was reading his Transfiguration textbook and didn't even look up when he spoke.

"Hey I'm going to go talk to Lily for a second." Lucrezia said. As soon as she said this, Peter, James, and Lupin all looked up at her immediately. They actually thought she'd ask Lily to be with Sirius.

"No it's not that. It's about homework. I know she's yours, James."

She left that part of the common room and snuck up to the girls' dorms.

"Lily?" she called softly.

"Yes, Sirius?" Lily and Sirius had gotten along a lot better in the past few weeks.

"Can I talk to you for a second? About James?"

"Sirius. If you're here to tell me that James doesn't really fancy me and that he just wanted to take me from Severus, I already know. I've known for a while. I heard him bragging to some girls. I don't want him either, Sirius. But he's my only option. I'd rather be with him than be alone."

"He asked you to Slughorn's party, didn't he?"

"Yes," she said. "Sirius, who're going with?"

"I don't know," Lucrezia said. "I asked someone but she said no."

"I'm really sorry. Who was it?" Lily asked.

"Doesn't matter." Somehow, Lucrezia knew that Sirius was ashamed of her. He knew she wouldn't want anyone to know that he had asked her to the party. And she really knew that he wouldn't want people to know that she had rejected him.

Suddenly, Lucrezia could almost feel herself growing shorter. She pushed the sleeve of her robe aside a little. And there it was. The scar on her arm.

"I've got to go." She said abruptly. She ran across the common room to the exit.

"Where the bloody Hell are you going?" James asked.

"I need some air. Sneaking out of the castle."

"Cool, let's go." he said.

"No I really need to be alone. I'm sorry." Prongs nodded at her. He seemed to understand. Did Sirius do this a lot or was she just that good at impersonating him?

Nonetheless, she ran out as fast as she could and headed toward the seventh floor. Sirius had a longer trip there but he was probably smart enough to leave before he could feel the potion wearing off. Once she finally reached the Room of Requirement, she was alone. No Sirius, no nothing. He must be on his way or back in Gryffindor. Lucrezia closed her eyes and pictured her robes. She couldn't wear Sirius' forever, no matter how good they smelled to her. Once she opened her eyes, her standard paid of robes appeared in front of her. Tattered, holey, and long, she slid them on and left the room with Sirius' robes well hidden.

"Parceltongue." She stepped into the Slytherin common room and was greeted by a sight that angered her beyond belief. Avery, Mulciber, and Lestrange were standing around Sirius Black with their wands raised. Lestrange was holding both his and Sirius' wands.

"_Expelliarmus!" _She pointed her wand at Avery and disarmed him.

"_Incendio!" _Mulciber screamed at her. It was her against Mulciber but Lucrezia did not think that would last for long; Lestrange could only torture Sirius for so long. She couldn't stand it. She had to help Sirius.

"_Aguamenta!_" She lowered her wand from Mulciber and turned her attention to Lestrange. "_Oppungo!" _Six birds shot out of her wand and attacked Lestrange.

"_Protego!_"

"_Serpensortia!_" This was her specialty spell. It was a basic spell that many Slytherins learned in their second year but from her wand, the spell was always exceptionally powerful.

A silver snake shot out of her wand and immediately struck at Lestrange one… twice… three times. The wounds wouldn't be fatal but they were more than enough for him to lose his grip on his and Sirius' wands; He fell to the floor, dropping them both. Upon seeing this, Mulciber looked scared for the first time ever in the time Lucrezia had known him.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at the three dark wizards in the room and wiped their memories of this entire encounter and sent them to bed with the Imperious Curse. She had no choice. She would protect her friend.

"Sirius," she said breathlessly. "Sirius, wake up. Please. I need you here. Please wake up."

A small mumbling came from his mouth.

"What, Sirius? What did you say?" His eyes came open lazily and he smiled at her weakly and sat up. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as close as he could.

"I messed up. I just wasn't good at being you. I think I acted too much like Bellatrix."

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're safe now," she pulled his robes out for him. "Here are your robes. I saved them for you."

"I don't think I can get dressed on my own." He smirked at her.

"You're fine. I may have actually believed that if you were any good at acting. Also, James asked me about you going to the party with Patricia Goyle. I said no for you and used the excuse that you had too much family in Slytherin to ever date one. It sufficed." Lucrezia paused. "I was supposed to say no, right?" Suddenly, panic went all through her. What if Sirius did want to go with Patricia? Did she just ruin his chance at getting a date?

"Lucrezia," he said. "Of course you were supposed to say no." He held her face in between his hands and smiled at her. At that moment, Lucrezia knew that she should have kissed him but she couldn't bring herself to do it. James wouldn't approve.


	4. Chapter 4

Here it is, guys, chapter four! All characters are J. K. Rowling's except Lucrezia.

In the library, Lucrezia had snuck the map Sirius had given her inside her copy of _Advanced Potion Making_. She was looking at everyone on the map. Lily was in the library near her, a few shelves behind her. James was off with Lupin and Pettigrew. Sirius seemed to be pacing in the Gryffindor common room. Severus was in the Slytherin common room probably studying or resting or just sitting. It was amazing how much this map did and that Sirius and his friends were clever enough to make it greatly impressed Lucrezia. Suddenly Sirius' dot on the map was leaving the Gryffindor common room and seemed to be heading up the castle, floor by floor. She knew where he was going and packed up her things.

"Oi, if only Padfoot were here to see what we found," James said while Lucrezia was on her way to see him.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" Lucrezia waved her wand at him and did not stop walking. "I don't have time for your rubbish, Potter."

She walked away a little faster and eventually reached where the door to the Room of Requirement was supposed to be. She closed her eyes and thought as hard as she could of Sirius and how much she wanted to see him. Upon opening her eyes, there was no door. There was Sirius. He walked up to her and gave her a long hug and stroked her back and buried his face in her curls. Once he pulled away, he only had one thing to tell her.

"Hi." He said weakly.

"That's it?" Lucrezia laughed. "Hi?" she playfully hit him. "We haven't seen each other in days and all you can say is hi?" Sirius slung his arm around her shoulders.

"You've got to think more than just wanting to see me. Be a bit more specific."

"Well…." she paused. "I want to see you. And I want to talk to you and do some magic and laugh and make jokes with you. I want to be with you in there because that's the only place I can be with you. And I have a favor to ask of you but I can't ask it unless we're alone. Is that specific enough?" Lucrezia looked at him and smiled. He gestured at the door now appearing on the wall.

"After you." he said.

She walked in and looked around. She had only just noticed his arm still around her and kindly shook it off. "About the favor…" she said.

"Ah, yes. What was that?" Sirius sat down and looked up at her.

"I need some hair." Lucrezia said sheepishly.

"Well," Sirius started. "I've had plenty of girls ask for favors but nothing like that. Might I ask why?"

"I need to get into the Gryffindor common room. As you. I think I can pull off your personality. Please, Padfoot?"

"What do I get in return?" he asked slyly.

"Anything." Sirius nodded and plucked a long black hair from his head.

"Will this do?" he asked.

"That'll be lovely." Lucrezia replied and sat next to him, holding his hand. They talked for a while and she eventually found herself lying down in his arms on the floor in the room. But was nice but she couldn't pay much attention to it. All she could think about was her needing the polyjuice potion. A faint bubbling suddenly started happened on the other side of the room.

"Hold on." Lucrezia said suddenly. She stood up and Sirius sat up and watched her pick up her robes and walk to the other side of the room. This was the first time he noticed her feet.

"What is it?" he called after her, still looking at the feet until they were once again covered by her robes.

"It's… polyjuice potion. Just what I needed."

"You mean, just what you required?" Sirius smirked.

"Can I have another hair?" She almost felt ashamed for asking.

"Can I have another anything?" She admired how he was so straightforward and unafraid. He knew what he wanted and he would ask her, no matter what the answer was.

"It depends. What is it?"

He smiled again. "Can't it be anything?"

"Sirius."

"I want you to go with me to Slughorn's party." Lucrezia was completely taken aback.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, James doesn't even know we're friends. The only person who does is Severus. I don't think we should just blurt it out by going to a party as a date. I really want to and I am sorry. It just isn't a good idea."

"Yeah. You're right. What was I thinking?" Sirius looked upset. He must have known that it wouldn't work but he had to ask anyways, just in case.

He looked down and plucked a hair for her.

"Now go. The password is whatever flavor of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans is your least favorite. I'm sure you know from the map where the common room is."

"Wait." Lucrezia said suddenly. She took a small clump of her waves and curls and poured Sirius a glass and put her hair in. "You can't stay in here naked. And I'm sure you'd love to see the Slytherin girls' dorm."

"Actually," he began. "There's only one girl I would love to see indecent, thank you very much."

"And who might that be?"

"Doesn't matter. But she isn't a Slytherin, that's for sure. Not anymore. Not to me." He mumbled the last parts so she couldn't hear him.

"Well drink up. I'll do the same and we'll switch clothes. You know where the common room is but the password is parceltongue."

They both looked at each other one last time and drank the disgusting bubbly potion.

Lucrezia felt as though she was turning inside out. Exploding and boiling into a completely new person. She opened her eyes and looked down at her hands. They were clean and strong. She felt her hair. It was shorter and neat. Her clothes were tight and for once, her robe was the right length.

Sirius felt himself, too. His hair was long black coils framing his face and spiraling down his back. His robe was brushing the floor gently, rather than dragging. His hands were smaller, his fingers longer and skinnier.

"Alright, we need to switch clothes." Lucrezia finally said after both their skin had stopped bubbling.

"You're just trying to see me naked." Sirius smirked.

"I _am_ you. If I look at you, I'll see me naked which, I assure you, is not that great and not a surprise to me. You look at me and you'll see you naked. Which I hope isn't a surprise to you." Sirius glared at her and they switched clothes. Sirius wanted to but he couldn't bring himself to look down at the naked body he was now in. He just couldn't set himself up as some perverted pig.

"Alright. Thank you, Sirius. I need to hurry and go off to the common room." She almost left when she remembered the ring that Severus had made for her. "Wait," she took it off hesitantly. "Take this. I forgot it was on. If you're not wearing this, you won't pass for me. I always wear it." Lucrezia handed it to Sirius.

"It feels alive." he said.

"It is. It was made from a _Serpensortia_ curse. Severus made it for me."

"And you wear it?" He couldn't believe it. He was jealous. She was always wearing a ring that he made for her. There was no reminder on her at all of him. He had given Lucrezia nothing but a map. Severus gave her jewelry that she never took off before that moment. Even then, when she took it off, she didn't seem to want to do so. He had to shake the thought. He would not be jealous of Snivellus.

The two walked out of the Room of Requirement and went to the common rooms; Lucrezia to Gryffindor, Sirius to Slytherin. Once she finally got to the portrait of a fat lady and got up enough nerve to finally enter, the common room, Lucrezia came to a small problem.

"Password?"  
>"Earwax." she said simply.<p>

"Incorrect." What was going on? Sirius said the password was her least favorite flavor of Bertie Bott's every flavor beans. Both of them hated the earwax ones. Unless….

"Password? The Fat Lady asked again.

"Whatever flavor of Bertie Bott's every flavor beans is your least favorite." The door swung open and the first thing Lucrezia noticed was just how completely red everything was.

"Hey, Padfoot, we were all wondering where you were. Found you a date for Slughorn's party." James smirked at her.

"Who with? Is she hot?" Lucrezia so desperately wanted to just tell James that Sirius had already asked someone but because James and everyone else were such insolent loathsome people, they could never go together. They could never really be together.

"Yeah I think so. Patricia Goyle sound good to you?" No. No she did not. Lucrezia hated Patricia and it wasn't just because of how gorgeous she was. She always had to take things away from other people just to make herself look nicer. She didn't want Sirius anywhere near her. She'd wear a dress that was tight, short, and showed way too much anyways. Patricia would love to be on Sirius' arm even though he was a Gryffindor. She'd go after anyone. The only boy to ever reject her was Severus.

"Not really. I'm not interested in Slytherins; too much family over there anyways." Lucrezia thought this answer would suffice. It was true, at least

"Oh well. We'll keep looking." Remus said. He was reading his Transfiguration textbook and didn't even look up when he spoke.

"Hey I'm going to go talk to Lily for a second." Lucrezia said. As soon as she said this, Peter, James, and Lupin all looked up at her immediately. They actually thought she'd ask Lily to be with Sirius.

"No it's not that. It's about homework. I know she's yours, James."

She left that part of the common room and snuck up to the girls' dorms.

"Lily?" she called softly.

"Yes, Sirius?" Lily and Sirius had gotten along a lot better in the past few weeks.

"Can I talk to you for a second? About James?"

"Sirius. If you're here to tell me that James doesn't really fancy me and that he just wanted to take me from Severus, I already know. I've known for a while. I heard him bragging to some girls. I don't want him either, Sirius. But he's my only option. I'd rather be with him than be alone."

"He asked you to Slughorn's party, didn't he?"

"Yes," she said. "Sirius, who're going with?"

"I don't know," Lucrezia said. "I asked someone but she said no."

"I'm really sorry. Who was it?" Lily asked.

"Doesn't matter." Somehow, Lucrezia knew that Sirius was ashamed of her. He knew she wouldn't want anyone to know that he had asked her to the party. And she really knew that he wouldn't want people to know that she had rejected him.

Suddenly, Lucrezia could almost feel herself growing shorter. She pushed the sleeve of her robe aside a little. And there it was. The scar on her arm.

"I've got to go." She said abruptly. She ran across the common room to the exit.

"Where the bloody Hell are you going?" James asked.

"I need some air. Sneaking out of the castle."

"Cool, let's go." he said.

"No I really need to be alone. I'm sorry." Prongs nodded at her. He seemed to understand. Did Sirius do this a lot or was she just that good at impersonating him?

Nonetheless, she ran out as fast as she could and headed toward the seventh floor. Sirius had a longer trip there but he was probably smart enough to leave before he could feel the potion wearing off. Once she finally reached the Room of Requirement, she was alone. No Sirius, no nothing. He must be on his way or back in Gryffindor. Lucrezia closed her eyes and pictured her robes. She couldn't wear Sirius' forever, no matter how good they smelled to her. Once she opened her eyes, her standard paid of robes appeared in front of her. Tattered, holey, and long, she slid them on and left the room with Sirius' robes well hidden.

"Parceltongue." She stepped into the Slytherin common room and was greeted by a sight that angered her beyond belief. Avery, Mulciber, and Lestrange were standing around Sirius Black with their wands raised. Lestrange was holding both his and Sirius' wands.

"_Expelliarmus!" _She pointed her wand at Avery and disarmed him.

"_Incendio!" _Mulciber screamed at her. It was her against Mulciber but Lucrezia did not think that would last for long; Lestrange could only torture Sirius for so long. She couldn't stand it. She had to help Sirius.

"_Aguamenta!_" She lowered her wand from Mulciber and turned her attention to Lestrange. "_Oppungo!" _Six birds shot out of her wand and attacked Lestrange.

"_Protego!_"

"_Serpensortia!_" This was her specialty spell. It was a basic spell that many Slytherins learned in their second year but from her wand, the spell was always exceptionally powerful.

A silver snake shot out of her wand and immediately struck at Lestrange one… twice… three times. The wounds wouldn't be fatal but they were more than enough for him to lose his grip on his and Sirius' wands; He fell to the floor, dropping them both. Upon seeing this, Mulciber looked scared for the first time ever in the time Lucrezia had known him.

Taking a deep breath, she looked at the three dark wizards in the room and wiped their memories of this entire encounter and sent them to bed with the Imperious Curse. She had no choice. She would protect her friend.

"Sirius," she said breathlessly. "Sirius, wake up. Please. I need you here. Please wake up."

A small mumbling came from his mouth.

"What, Sirius? What did you say?" His eyes came open lazily and he smiled at her weakly and sat up. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as close as he could.

"I messed up. I just wasn't good at being you. I think I acted too much like Bellatrix."

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're safe now," she pulled his robes out for him. "Here are your robes. I saved them for you."

"I don't think I can get dressed on my own." He smirked at her.

"You're fine. I may have actually believed that if you were any good at acting. Also, James asked me about you going to the party with Patricia Goyle. I said no for you and used the excuse that you had too much family in Slytherin to ever date one. It sufficed." Lucrezia paused. "I was supposed to say no, right?" Suddenly, panic went all through her. What if Sirius did want to go with Patricia? Did she just ruin his chance at getting a date?

"Lucrezia," he said. "Of course you were supposed to say no." He held her face in between his hands and smiled at her. At that moment, Lucrezia knew that she should have kissed him but she couldn't bring herself to do it. James wouldn't approve.


End file.
